summer days
by Silverflare07
Summary: The five summers Kendall spends with Hortense while James and Carlos are at Camp Wonky Donkey and the one summer he has to share him. Pre-slash cuteness and eventual Kogan.
1. the one where it all begins

So I'm back with a new fic. This one's actually not a one shot or a two shot. It's all planned out already and already written so expect pretty regular updates. Not much to say about this chapter, except that it is a pain in the butt to write Hortense all the time instead of Logan.

Enjoy!

* * *

Eight-year-old Kendall Knight is not particularly happy. He is standing in his front yard, his two best friends in the whole world standing there with him, and Kendall can feel himself starting to tear up, which he hates because he's a big boy now (he's had to be a big boy ever since he's dad went to Heaven) and he knows big boys don't cry. But it's not fair! James and Carlos are off to spend their summer at Camp Wonky Donkey and Kendall can't go with them.

"Bye Kendall." Carlos hugs his best friend quickly. "We'll miss you."

From beside the smaller Latino boy, James nods. "We wish you could come too!" He also hugs his blonde friend.

"It's not fair." Kendall pouts, crossing his arms over his chest. "Now I'm going to be stuck all by myself."

"What about Hortense?" Carlos asks, mentioning the newest addition to their group.

Kendall sighs. "I guess. But it won't be the same." It's not that Kendall doesn't like Hortense, the boy's a little quiet, but otherwise Kendall likes him just fine. But he hasn't known Hortense very long and Kendall doesn't think he's going to be much of a replacement for his two best friends.

A horn beeps behind the two boys and James and Carlos both turn to see James' mother waving at them from the driver's seat of her car. She'd volunteered to take both James and Carlos to camp. All three friends turn back to face each other, knowing, even at eight, that saying no and keeping James' mom waiting were two things you just didn't do. Kendall waves good-bye to his two friends as they climb back into the car. He races after the car, still waving, as it drives away. From the backseat both James and Carlos turn around so they can wave to their blonde friend from the window.

Finally, the car is too far away for Kendall to even see his friends' faces and he stops running. He sighs because he's only eight years old and he honestly cannot figure out what he's going to do for a whole summer without his two best friends.

-0-

Kendall is sitting on his couch, watching TV, well actually he's moping but the TV is on so he supposes that kind of counts, when the doorbell rings. His mom is busy with Katie in the kitchen so even though he really doesn't want to move (he's always been prone to lying on the couch when he's upset), when his mom yells to him to answer the door he knows he's going to have to actually get up and do it.

He shuffles to the door, sighing exasperatedly, pulling it open and coming face to face with Hortense Mitchell.

"Hi!" The smaller boys waves at him and Kendall blinks in shock, wondering how he got there. It takes him a minute to remember that Hortense only lives down the street from him.

"Hi." Kendall sounds far less enthusiastic than the boy in front of him.

"Um," Hortense seems to pick up on Kendall's attitude because he suddenly looks embarrassed. "Would you, maybe, wanna come over and play?"

No. "Uh," Kendall would really like to stay inside and mope thank you very much. "No thanks." He doesn't offer any explanation. Just waits for the smaller boy to leave.

"Oh." Hortense's shoulders slump. "Okay."

He turns to go, but Kendall can hear him sniffling and he immediately feels guilty. He can still remember how nervous and shy Hortense had been when he'd first moved to Minnesota. Not much has changed in the month or so he's been there, but Kendall can still recall the bright smile on his face when Carlos had called the boy their friend and he and James had agreed. Kendall's first thought had been how much he liked that smile and how much he wanted to see it again and again.

"Hortense wait!"

The small brunette turned back to face the blonde, something like hope flitting across his face. "Yeah?"

"Sure I'll come over." Kendall does his best to smile, trying to get rid of his misery at not being able to hang out with his two best friends. Hortense really _was_ his friend and his mom would probably rather him go play with the smaller boy than sit and mope on the couch all day. "Let me just ask my mom. MOM!"

There is silence for a moment before the older woman walks into the hallway. "You don't have to yell, Kendall." She admonishes gently, switching Katie from one hip to the other. "What did you need, sweetie?"

"Can I go over to Hortense's house and play?"

Jennifer Knight seems to take notice of the other boy for the first time. "Hello Hortense." She smiles warmly at him. She's only met him once or twice when picking Kendall up from school, but he'd always seemed so shy that she's genuinely glad to see him making an effort to make friends. "And sure. Just be home before it gets dark."

Kendall smiles again. "Thanks Mom." He hugs her quickly before moving to the porch and following Hortense onto the sidewalk and towards his house.

-0-

Hortense's house is one of the nicest on the block and Kendall takes a moment to admire it when they first enter. The smaller boy notices Kendall's wide eyes and shrugs. "My house is lame." He offers, as if that's what Kendall is thinking.

"No way." Kendall argues, looking at all the interesting artwork and knick-knacks that must belong to his parents. "Where did you even get all this stuff?"

Hortense shrugs again; kicking off his shoes while Kendall does the same. "Mom and dad used to travel a lot, before they had me." He makes his way into the living room. "Want to watch a movie?"

Kendall nods, but promises himself that he won't sit on the couch. Otherwise he might start moping again. Hortense shuffles through a rather impressive selection of tapes before pulling on out and holding it up. "How 'bout this one. It's my favorite." He flushes a bit with embarrassment as he says this, but Kendall's eyes light up as soon as he reads the title.

_Muppet Treasure Island_ is his favorite movie. And he's suddenly very excited to be sitting in the Mitchell's ridiculously clean living room. It's been ages since he's gotten a chance to watch the movie because Katie had accidentally (well it might have been accidental, even at two she shows a cunning that Kendall can hardly believe) broke his after he'd accidentally broken one of her dolls. "That's my favorite movie too!" He cries, ecstatic that he and his new friend have something in common.

Hortense beams at him, that same smile that he'd given them after they'd called him their friend and Kendall feels warm all over. He puts the tape in and then joins Kendall on the floor, both boys laying on their stomachs and smiling as the movie starts to play.

"_Shiver my timbers_

_Shiver my bones…"_

-0-

The movie ends and Kendall laughs as Hortense does a pretty spot on imitation of Miss Piggy. Mrs. Mitchell calls them to lunch and Kendall is greeted by the smell of mac-n-cheese and chicken nuggets. "Whoa!" His eyes grow wide as he sits down next to Hortense. "They're shaped like dinosaurs!"

Mrs. Mitchell laughs at the young boy's enthusiasm. "You've never had dinosaur chicken nuggets before, Kendall?"

The blonde shakes his head. "No!" He grabs one and bites into it. "They taste even better than regular chicken nuggets!"

Mrs. Mitchell laughs again and Kendall decides he likes the sound. It's the same nice sound his mom's laugh is and it makes him feel at home. Hortense hasn't stopped smiling since they'd put in the movie and Kendall decides he likes that too.

-0-

They spend the rest of the day playing in Hortense's room and his back yard. Kendall spends most of the day either talking animatedly with the boy about all the things they actually have in common (more than Kendall had originally thought) or breathless from either running or laughing. He's actually extremely disappointed when Mrs. Mitchell points out that it's getting dark and that he should probably head back to his house before his mother starts to worry.

"This has been the best day ever!" Kendall cries, pulling the smaller brunette towards him for a quick hug. "Thanks Hortense!"

Hortense blushes, but grins happily at his new friend. "You're welcome."

Kendall throws open the door and is about to step out when he turns back to face the smaller boy and his mother. "You'll come over tomorrow, right? I can show you all my Spiderman stuff!"

Hortense looks at his mother who nods in approval. "Yeah." He says as he turns back to face the blonde. "Sure I will."

"Yay!" Kendall runs to him and pulls him into another hug. He lets go quickly and rushes back to the open door. "Bye Hortense! Bye Mrs. Mitchell!"

And then he's gone, sprinting back to his house as fast as his legs can carry him, eager to tell his mother all about his day with his new friend.

-0-

"What's wrong, Kendall? Carlos and James should be over any minute, aren't you excited to see them?" Jennifer asks. She had expected to see her son moping on the couch the first week or so after the other two had left for camp and was pleasantly surprised when he spent hardly an entire day there before going and playing with Hortense.

And she is even more surprised to find him moping on the couch now, with summer nearly over and James and Carlos finally back from camp and coming over to play.

"Yeah…" He doesn't exactly sound excited about it though.

"Kendall?"

He sighs. "I don't want to share Hortense!" He exclaims suddenly. "He's _my_ best friend! They can't have him!"

Jennifer chuckles at her son. Two months ago he was sure the world was ending because the only person he'd had to play with was the new boy down the street. Now here he was, ready to lock said boy in a closet just so he could keep him all to himself.

"Something tells me that, no matter how much Hortense might like James and Carlos, _you're_ always going to be his best friend."

Kendall looks up at her, hazel eyes wide and hopeful. "Really?"

Mrs. Knight nods. She's watched the two boys all summer and can tell already that Kendall has found a special friend with Hortense and vice versa. Adding James and Carlos to the mix can only make it better. "Something tells me you're all going to be really good friends for a very long time."

"Yeah," Kendall grins up at his mother. "You're right." His face becomes possessive again. "But Hortense is still _my_ best friend."

She laughs again and ruffles her son's hair as the doorbell rings. "He will be." She stands to go answer the door, knowing it's either James and Carlos or the boy they were just discussing on the other side.

"Hortense!" Kendall immediately brightens up as the smaller boy walks into the living room.

"Hiya, Kendall!" He greets back, just as enthusiastically.

Jennifer watches them from the doorway and smiles.

It's funny how much can change in just two months. As much as she knows her son loves James and Carlos, it's clear that he's friendship with Hortense is going to be different. She has a sneaking suspicion that Hortense is going to be a part of her son's life for good, one way or another.

And, like all mother's, she hopes that all of her son's summers will be as good to him as this one was.

* * *

There's chapter one! Sorry if the dialogue seems a bit old for eight. I am really terrible at writing little kids.

Well leave a review and let me know what you think!


	2. the one where Kendall reads kind of

Here's chapter two! There's not a whole lot to say about it either. It was inspired by a short drabble that swirlyslidez on Tumblr did. This idea just seems super adorable and I am completely convinced that this is how Kendall and Logan spend time when it's just the two of them, even at sixteen.

Enjoy.

000

"Come on Kendall!" Nine-year-old Hortense tugs at his best friend's arm. "It's just the library."

It's summer and James and Carlos have both left for Camp Wonky Donkey once again. The four boys had spent the school year all hanging out with one another and Kendall is now lucky enough to have three best friends. James and Carlos had welcomed Hortense into the group with open arms after getting back from camp, especially after seeing how much Kendall liked him. But when summer had rolled around again the other two boys had quickly opted to spend the summer at the camp once more, leaving Kendall and Hortense behind. Kendall finds he doesn't mind it nearly as much this time.

He makes a face at the brick building in front of him. "But the library is boring!"

Hortense looks mildly offended by this accusation. "No it's not! The library is great! It's full of books and it's…" He trails off suddenly, looking awkward.

This piques the blonde's interest. "It's what?"

"Nothing." The smaller brunette mumbles. "You'll just laugh at me."

Now it's Kendall's turn to look offended. Hortense is his best friend and he'd never laugh at him. Well, maybe, but never in a mean way. "I promise not to laugh, Hortense."

The smaller boy looks at him for a moment before deciding he's trustworthy. "I spent a lot of time in the library before I moved here."

"Why? Wouldn't it have been more fun to play with your friends?

Hortense shrugs, almost like it's no big deal, but Kendall can tell his friend his embarrassed. "I didn't really have a lot of friends in Texas."

Kendall can remember the small, shy, quiet boy he, James, and Carlos had rescued from some bullies on Hortense's third of fourth day or school. And he realizes that coming to the library isn't just going to the library for Hortense. It's probably a place that's important to him, and it's probably a big deal that he wants to bring Kendall. So the blonde smiles and grabs his friend's hand, pulling him up the steps towards where Mrs. Mitchell is waiting patiently for the two boys to stop talking.

"Come on, Hortense! Let's go the library!"

-0-

"Aren't you going to pick out a book?"

Kendall looks up to find Hortense standing in front of him, holding several books, most of which Kendall has never even heard of. "I, uh, I don't really like to read." He admits.

Hortense gasps, dropping said books on the floor and earning a glare from the librarian behind the desk a few feet away. "Sorry." Both boys tell her sheepishly, before they duck down to begin picking up the fallen books. "How can you not like reading?" He asks the blonde.

He shrugs. "It's boring. There's no pictures and it's something we have to do for school so it must not be any fun." They place the books on the table and Hortense begins sorting through them, trying to find the one he wants to take home.

The brunette regards him for a minute before grinning. "I bet you just don't know how to read."

Kendall gasps, as if this is the most offensive thing anyone has ever said to him (and at nine it probably is). "I can so!"

"I dunno…" Hortense looks skeptical. "I've never seen you read. Not, like, a _book_. I don't think you can." He finally chooses a book and stands up, heading over to where his mother is waiting to help them check out.

Kendall huffs and grabs one of the many books that Hortense has pushed a side. "I can so read! I'll read this whole book!" He stalks past the smaller boy and misses the knowing grin on his friend's face completely.

It's not until after they've checked out their books and are back in car on the way to Logan's house that Kendall realizes his smarter friend must certainly know he can read. He'd just used the blonde's competitive nature to trick him into getting a book.

-0-

"This is boring!" Kendall cries as he shuts the book he'd been attempting to read.

Hortense looks up from where he's nose deep in _Bridge to Terabithia_ and smirks. "Maybe you should have picked another book then."

Kendall glances at the cover of his book, _The Secret Garden_, starring up at him. It isn't that the book is bad, but Kendall just cannot get into it. He pouts as he turns to face Hortense. "What are you reading?"

"_Bridge to Terabithia_."

Kendall's eyes light up at the name. He remembers seeing commercials for the movie of the same name that is coming out. It looks really good. "I want to read that!"

The smaller brunette looks up again. "You can read it when I'm done if you want."

The blonde boy pouts once more. "I don't want to wait!"

His friend sighs and shakes his head, but he's grinning so Kendall knows he's not really mad. "How about I read it to you? That way we can read it together."

Kendall brightens at the suggestion and crawls over to where Hortense is seated on the opposite end of the couch. "Okay!" He says happily as the brunette flips back to the beginning of the book. "Thanks, Hortense."

Hortense smiles back and Kendall really likes the way Hortense's dimples match his own when they smile. "You're welcome."

"_Ba-room, ba-room, ba-room, baripity, baripity, baripity, baripity—Good. His dad had the pickup going. He could get up now._"

-0-

Jennifer Knight is greeted warmly by Joanna Mitchell when she stops by to pick up her eldest child. "I hope he wasn't too much trouble today," The auburn haired woman says. "He hates the library so I can only imagine what kind of a nightmare it must have been to get him to go."

"Actually," Joanna smiles warmly and points to the living room before raising a finger to her lips and gesturing for Jennifer to remain silent.

Both woman peek into the living room and find Hortense and Kendall still on the couch, Hortense still reading _Bridge to Terabithia_. They're about two-thirds of the way through the novel and Kendall has readjusted himself, lying flat on his back and head in his other friend's lap as the smaller boy reads, his eyes never once leaving the brunette's face. The two mothers slip into the kitchen completely unnoticed by their sons. Jennifer grins.

"I'm impressed. I don't think I've ever seen Kendall pay that much attention to anything, especially a book."

Joanna laughs. "I was pretty surprised myself." The shorter woman admits. "Hortense had some trouble actually getting him into the library, but it's been like this since we got home."

"I hate to interrupt them," She does in fact look a little guilty about it. "But I need to get home and start dinner. Katie's babysitter is probably getting tired of her right about now." The two women laugh amiably, knowing that even at three years old, Katie is quite a handful for anyone.

Joanna waves a hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. Robert's got to work late tonight," she frowns at the mention of her husband's work habits because he's been working late more and more, "so I was just going to order a pizza. Kendall is more than welcome to stay for dinner and they can finish their book."

Jennifer smiles gratefully. "Thanks, Joanna. Just send Kendall home when they're done."

-0-

"That book was awesome!" Kendall raves over his slice of pepperoni pizza. "Are all books that awesome?"

Hortense grins at his friend. "Yep. Well, mostly. I've read a couple that weren't good."

"We should get another one! What's your favorite book? Let's read that one together!"

The smaller boy turns to his mother. "Can we go back tomorrow mom? Please?"

Joanna goes over her schedule for the next day in her head before nodding. "Sure sweetie."

"What should we get, Hortense?"

He ponders his friend's question for a minute before smiling. "Want to get Narnia?"

Kendall's never even heard of that, but he trusts Hortense's judgment so he nods enthusiastically. "Okay!"

Hortense, already excited about the prospect of reading, eagerly mirrors his friend's excitement. He loves reading and is really happy that his new best friend seems as excited about it as he does. "We can get the first one! And we can read one a week if you want."

Kendall nods, not wanting to talk with a mouth full of pizza. Hortense beams at him and the blonde can't help but return the gesture.

-0-

They spend the entire summer this way. Every Monday they go to the library and get the next book in the _Chronicles of Narnia_ series. Hortense does the math and quickly figures out how many chapters they need to read every day in order for them to be finished with the book by Sunday night (it's not the first time in the year or so that Kendall has known Hortense that he's been impressed with his friend's abilities with math and other things academic). They spend their days playing together, sometimes at Kendall's house and sometimes at Hortense's. Then every night, after dinner, they curl up together on the couch and Hortense opens the book to where they last left off and reads aloud the designated set of chapters for that day.

Kendall learns to love the adventures in the books. He learns to love the characters that are brave and smart but sometimes selfish or mean. He learns to love painting a picture in his mind of the action and the landscape, using the words that tumble past the brunette's lips to guide him.

But mostly, Kendall just learns to love the sound of his best friend's voice. It's calm and soothing and Hortense reads just as well as a grown up. It really impresses Kendall and he thinks he wouldn't mind reading books with him forever.

They're almost completely finished with the fifth book in the series, _The Voyage of the Dawn Treader_, when James and Carlos return from Camp Wonky Donkey. Kendall is a little worried that now that the other two boys are back in town, they won't continue their nightly ritual, but much to his relief, as they wave goodbye to Carlos and James and climb into Mrs. Mitchell's car, Hortense starts talking excitedly about what might happen next in the book.

This continues for the next two weeks, until they've completely finished all seven books in the series. It doesn't occur to either boy to invite their other two friends to join them, although they've had several opportunities to do so. Kendall almost feels guilty as he watches Hortense close the last book and sigh happily. He's supposed to want to do things with all of his best friends, not just the brunette.

But he really loves having something that just for the two of them.

000

And that's the end of chapter two! I hope you guys enjoyed it. Except chapter three in a few days!


	3. the one where they play hockey

Okay, so I wasn't going to upload this so soon, but for some weird reason I got an e-mail from today saying that one of my stories (one that's been on the site since '06 and is currently in a category/fandom that is basically dead) was removed because it violated the terms/guidelines and that, as punishment, my uploading privileges have been suspended for a few days.

Except…they didn't specify which terms/guidelines I violated and none of the other stories I wrote for that fandom have been removed. Oh, and the story hasn't been removed. It's still on my profile. I can still access it, all the chapters, and the reviews. So I'm wondering if my uploading privileges have even actually been suspended…

Thus, you get this chapter today. It's a little longer than the other two, I think it's actually the longest (or second longest-the epilogue may have beaten it) chapter in the story, but I've never seen this approach to Logan learning hockey before so I wanted to try it.

Enjoy!

Oh, and to Sarah who asked about the request: I don't usually do requests and I definitely don't write MPREG, but I might be able to try it, probably wouldn't be anything more than a one-shot…it might take a while to get around to though. I have a thirty-chapter story that I want to work on once I'm done with this. I'll do what I can though. (:

* * *

"Good morning Mama Knight!" Hortense calls as he enters the Knight household.

Jennifer peeks her head out from the kitchen and smiles at the young ten year old in front of her. "Good morning, Hortense." Every day since Carlos and James and left for Camp Wonky Donkey, Hortense had stopped by the house to wake Kendall up. Eventually Jennifer had just told him to stop bothering with knocking, he was family now, after all.

"Is Kendall still upstairs?"

Jennifer laughs, "Of course." She walks up to the small boy, ruffling his hair affectionately. "He'd sleep away his summer if it weren't for you."

Hortense smiles at the woman before him. Things have been rather hard for him and his mother since his father had walked out on them just before Christmas. During that time Kendall's house had become like a second home to him and Mama Knight like a second mother. He thanks her once again before racing up the stairs and slipping into Kendall's room.

"Kendall!" Hortense jumps on the bed, sufficiently startling the blonde boy awake. "Get up!"

"Go away!" Kendall mumbles into his pillow, but the brunette is having none of it. Instead, he grabs his friend's pillow and proceeds to beat him with it. "Gak! No! No stop it!" He tries to sound like he's really annoyed, but he keeps laughing, which only encourages Hortense more.

Finally Kendall manages to break free of the onslaught of pillow and tackles his friend, making them fall back on the bed, and beginning to tickle him mercilessly. He's the only one who knows that Hortense is extremely ticklish. "Nooo! Kendall no!" The smaller boy manages to gasp in between laughing. "Uncle! Uncle!"

Kendall sits up, still straddling the other boy. "That's what you get for waking me up."

Hortense pretends to glare at him. "I've been doing it every day for two weeks! You should be getting up on your own by now."

"Aw, come on Hortense." Kendall slides off his bed, finally letting the other boy sit up. "It's summer."

"Yeah, and we should be spending it playing!" He grins and Kendall feels his resolve to go back to sleep disappear completely. There's not much his brunette friend can't get him to agree too.

"Okay, okay. I guess I'll get up." He sighs dramatically, as if this is the worst thing he's ever had to do. He shuffles through his dresser for some clothes as he speaks. "What should we do today?"

When his friend doesn't answer right away he becomes concerned. Hortense always has an idea about what to do. When he turns back to face his friend he finds him still sitting on the bed, twisting the comforter in his hands and looking at his shoes. He's nervous, Kendall realizes, but he can't figure out why? "'Tense?" He drops the clean Spiderman shirt he was going to wear and moves over to his friend. "What's wrong?

Hortense looks up and Kendall can see that he's chewing on his bottom lip, something he only does when he's nervous. "Well, uh, see my-my dad was supposed to teach me how to play baseball this summer but…" He trails off.

Kendall places a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I don't really know how to play baseball, but we could try and learn together if you want."

The brunette shakes his head. "No." His voice is surprisingly stern and Kendall is almost taken aback. He's never heard his friend's voice like that, hard and unforgiving. "I don't want anything to do with what he liked. But," he turns wide, pleading eyes to Kendall, his voice losing all traces of hostility, "I was hoping maybe you could teach me how to play hockey."

Kendall bites his lip, unsure of how to answer his friend's request. Hortense senses his hesitation because he continues speaking quickly. "I really want to join the team with you guys and I know I won't be good enough for this year's try outs, but I thought maybe next year I could…and if we work really hard I'll be able to play when you, James, and Carlos go to the rink instead of just watching. Please Kendall?"

"I dunno…" It's not that Kendall doesn't want to teach his friend about hockey. In fact, he'd love it if his best friend shared his enthusiasm for his favorite sport. But hockey is dangerous and Kendall doesn't want to introduce the already tiny boy to a sport where he could get hurt. Something in Kendall's chest hurts every time Hortense is upset or injured.

"Oh please Kendall!" Hortense is begging now. "Please, please, _please_!"

"Well…" Kendall thinks it over for a moment. "I guess so. But it's not going to be easy."

"Thank you!"

Kendall is still nervous about this, he's been extremely protective of the smaller boy ever since he'd shown up on his doorstep a few weeks before Christmas, crying and looking tiny and vulnerable, because his dad had left. But the smile and hug that Hortense gives him when he agrees makes his decision completely worth it.

-0-

Mama Knight drops them off at the skating rink later in the afternoon. She's taking Katie shopping; the four year old is in desperate need of new clothing. Kendall has been playing peewee hockey since he was five and so she completely trusts the two boys will be fine under the watchful eye of the ice rink's owner.

Hortense practically drags the blonde into the rink, eager to begin the lesson. The owner of the rink, an older man named Thomas Sampson, waves at both the boys before getting Hortense the proper sized skates. He knows both Kendall and Hortense from the many times the blonde has come in to play both for a team and with his friends and from all the times the brunette has come in to watch.

"Thanks Mr. Sampson." Hortense chirps, not at all daunted by how hard it is to tie up the laces on his skates.

Kendall, having already donned his pair, eventually kneels down next to his friend, swatting his struggling hands away, and making quick work of lacing them up. Hortense blushes and smiles shyly at the blonde. "Thanks."

"No problem." He shrugs. "We would have been here all day if I'd let you try and do it yourself." He sticks his tongue out at his friend to show he's only joking.

Hortense laughs because he knows the taller boy is probably right. He stands up and makes his way slowly to the rink. He takes two steps onto the ice and promptly falls flat on his backside. Kendall makes his way over to his friend; worrying filling his gut, but Hortense just looks up and laughs. "I guess I should mention that I don't know how to skate. At all."

Kendall sighs and grabs the smaller boy's hands, pulling him to his feet. "That doesn't surprise me." He gently tugs the other boy along, skating slowly. He's a very good skater for ten years old, a real natural according to his coach, but he's still learning how to skate backwards completely comfortably, so the slow pace is for his benefit as well as Hortense's.

The brunette is shaky, but he's not tripping over himself or falling flat on his face and Kendall grudgingly admits to himself that this hasn't yet turned into the disaster he was afraid his rather clumsy friend would make. Because, as much as he loves Hortense, the boy could trip over air, which had been one of the reasons he'd been hesitant to teach him hockey.

It's still smooth sailing after the first half an hour and Hortense can already skate, sort of, on his own. Kendall feels a sense of pride swell in his chest as his friend manages to skate several feet without holding on to either him or the wall. He lets out a cheer as Hortense laughs breathlessly in joy. It's a baby step, but it's still progress.

Maybe, just maybe, this wasn't such a bad idea after all.

-0-

It takes exactly two weeks for Kendall to realize that this was in fact a terrible idea.

Things had been progressing pretty well at first. Hortense, while not the best skater Kendall has ever seen, is holding his own fairly well. They'd managed to get either Mama Knight or Mama Mitchell (the boys had begun referring to each other's mother's that way shortly after Hortense's father had vanished) to drop them off at the rink every day and it had definitely helped. By the end of the first week, Kendall was letting Hortense skate around with his old hockey stick, letting the boy get used to the feeling of holding something and trying to keep his balance without the use of his arms.

That had been a success.

Then they'd started working on having Hortense skate faster. Kendall had timed how long it took to for the brunette to get from one end of the rink to the other. Their goal had been for him to manage to do so in about a minute. From there they'd put the hockey stick back in his hands and had him do it again.

That had been a success too.

Well into the second week both Hortense and Kendall had felt confident enough in the smaller boy's abilities to start bring a puck to the rink and hitting it back and forth to one another. Hortense had quite a bit of work ahead of him in terms of hand-eye coordination so they spent the majority of their time just passing the puck back and forth.

That had been relatively successful as well (although Hortense still had a long way to go before his hand-eye coordination was up to par).

It was once they try adding speed to their "pass the puck" sessions that things go bad.

Kendall shoots the puck towards his friend, making sure that it goes just slightly to the left of the shorter boy so that he has to scramble to reach it. He knows that rarely in a hockey game will his teammates be able to aim the puck perfectly at who they're passing too, so he figures it can't hurt to make sure Hortense doesn't get used to have it passed directly too him all the time. Except that when Hortense goes to reach for the puck his skate catches in the ice (there had been a pretty long hockey game that had been played at the rink just before the boys got there so the ice was a little scratched up) and he goes flying to ground, letting out a yelp as his palms make contact with the cold ice.

"Hortense!" Kendall cries, skating up to his smaller friend. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." He tries to stand up and collapses again, grabbing a hold of his ankle. "Well, maybe not." He's trying his best not to cry. "I hurt my ankle."

Kendall nods, eyes wide and he tells the smaller boy to hang on, before scrambling back to the front desk and yelling for Mr. Sampson. The older gentleman carries Hortense off the ice and checks his ankle. "It's okay." He tells the two boys. "He just twisted it is all. He'll need to be off it for a week, but otherwise he'll be fine."

The older man lets Kendall use the phone to call Mrs. Mitchell (the one who had dropped them off earlier). When she gets to the rink, Mr. Sampson tells her what's wrong and what Hortense needs to do to take care of it. Kendall spends the entire time, and the entire ride back to Hortense's house, wringing his hands together and feeling beyond guilty for even letting the smaller boy play such a dangerous sport.

"I'm sorry, Hortense." He says as soon as the brunette is situated on the couch, leg propped up several pillows.

"It's alright." Hortense shrugs, "It's not you're fault. I tripped, that's all." He lets out a small laugh. "We both know how clumsy I am. It sucks that we have to wait a whole week before I can skate again though."

"Oh no." Kendall shakes his head. "You're not going skating anymore. You might get hurt again!"

Hortense's mouth drops open in surprise and disbelief. "What? But Kendall-"

"No." Kendall's voice is firm. "I'm not letting you get hurt anymore 'Tense. You're my best friend."

"It was an accident, Kendall. It could have happened to anyone. I want to learn how to play hockey so I'm going to have get used to dealing with stuff like this. I know they can happen a lot." The brunette's voice is strained and he's close to yelling.

Kendall sounds the exact same way. "Exactly. That's why you're not playing anymore."

"Stop treating me like I'm going to break!" Hortense is yelling now. "I'm not afraid of getting hurt so you shouldn't be worried about it either! It's just a stupid twisted ankle. I'll be better in no time."

"No." The blonde repeats, his voice matching his friend's in both pitch and volume. "I knew you'd get hurt! That's why I didn't want to teach you in the first place!"

Hortense crosses his arms over his chest, looking at Kendall with a hurt expression. He just glares at Kendall with all the anger he can muster. Kendall glares right back for a full minute before turning and storming out the house, slamming the front door behind him.

-0-

It takes Kendall about the time it takes him to get to his house to start feeling guilty. He knows that uneven ice isn't Hortense's fault. And that hockey injuries are quite common. He also knows the brunette has a point. He's not going to break. Kendall can't fight the urge to keep his best friend safe though. He can't explain it, but every time the smaller boy is hurt, either emotionally or physically, all Kendall wants to do is make everything better.

But he's stubborn so it takes him until the next day before he finally convinces himself that he needs to go over to Hortense's house and apologize. This is the longest the boys have gone without speaking to one another and it's kind of killing Kendall. It hasn't even been twenty-four hours, but Kendall misses his best friend.

He knocks on the Mitchell's front door for what feels like the first time in ages (he and Hortense rarely knock when they come over anymore). Mama Mitchell opens the door and Kendall looks up at her, feeling even worse. He's sure she knows all about their fight and figures she must hate him now. To his surprise, however, the older woman smiles warmly at him. "Hello, Kendall. Hortense is in the living room."

"Uh," he is completely thrown off by her warm welcome. "Thanks." He says finally and makes his way into said room to find his best friend sitting on the couch, leg still propped up and reading a book.

For the first time in his life, Kendall feels timid. "Hey." He says quietly.

His voice startles Hortense and the book goes flying from his hands, landing on the floor with a thud. He looks up at Kendall with wide eyes, almost as if he can't believe the blonde boy is standing in his living room. "Hi." He whispers back.

Kendall moves to the couch, picking up Hortense's book and handing it to him. "Sorry." He whispers, ducking his head and looking at his shoes.

Hortense sighs. "Me too."

"I just don't like seeing you hurt. But if you really want to learn how to play hockey, I'll keep teaching you."

"Really?" Hortense looks so hopeful that even if Kendall had been against the idea he knew he couldn't back down.

"Yeah. Besides, hockey will be even more fun with my best friend playing!"

The brunette smiles gratefully at him and the clenching in his gut, that's been there since he'd left the Mitchell house yesterday, disappears. "Thank you! Oh!" Hortense reaches for a stack of papers on the coffee table beside him. "I did some research on typical hockey injuries and the best way to take care of them."

"You did?"

The smaller boy nods. "Yeah. I know you said you hate when I get hurt so I thought maybe I could teach you what I learned and that way, if I do get hurt again, you can take care of me. I thought that might make you feel better about it."

Something like relief floods through Kendall's chest as he takes the stack of papers from his friend. It really does make him feel better. Not so much because he'll be able to help Hortense (although he's glad to know that he can), but because this meant enough to the smaller boy to spend time trying to find a way to make it work. He's not demanding he get his way like James sometimes does or just giving in because it's easier like Carlos has been known to do. He's trying to find a way that will give both he and Kendall what they want.

If Kendall didn't know his friendship with the smaller boy was special before, he certainly does now.

-0-

They're back on the ice almost as soon as Hortense's ankle is completely healed. And by the time James and Carlos return from camp at the end of the summer he is able to skate and play a full game with them. They have to go easy, because he's still got a ways to go, but all three of the other boys are glad to have their friend on the ice with them instead of just watching on the sidelines. Although, sometimes Kendall misses the sound of Hortense cheering him on.

The brunette pulls him in for a hug after he scores his first goal though, and Kendall decides he likes that even better.

* * *

Yay! Here's chapter three! Hope you guys liked it. I've seen a ton of cute Kogan-y fics where a young Kendall teaches Logan how to play hockey, but I've never seen one where he doesn't want to because he doesn't want the smaller boy to get hurt. And I've always felt like, given his protective nature, he's first instinct would be to not want to teach him, but to do so anyways, reluctantly, because he can't ever say no to a request from his Logie.

Well, leave a review, tell me what you guys think.


	4. the one where Kendall babysits

Okay, so I've just moved and don't have internet in my new house yet. This doesn't really effect you guys much because I can just take my laptop to the library and use their wi-fi, but if it takes a few days longer than normal between uploads that's why.

Anyways, here's chapter four. I love Daddy!Kogan, which is kind of what this is supposed to be a little bit like. I also really love BigBrother!Kendall and BigBrother!Logan with BabySister!Katie, so I knew that this was the perfect thing to write for those.

Enjoy!

* * *

The shrill ringing of the phone is what wakes eleven-year old Hortense up on the third day of summer. He jumps up, falling to the ground in a tangle of blankets in his haste to get to answer it. His mother is at work so he knows the phone won't stop ringing until he gets to it.

"'lo?" He mutters sleepily into the receiver.

"Hey Hortense."

His best friend's voice immediately wakes him up fully. Kendall sounds upset and Hortense is concerned. Very little gets his spunky best friend down. "Hey Kendall. What's up?"

"I can't come over today."

Hortense pouts. He and Kendall had spent most of the last week of school begging both his mother and Kendall's to let the two boys stay at Hortense's house while his mother was at work. They were finally old enough to stay home alone and they'd wanted to spend the day playing and having the house to themselves. It had taken a lot of pleading and promises to not touch anything in the kitchen except the snack cabinet and the lunchables in the fridge, but they'd finally gotten both mom's to agree. It also might have helped that it was just going to be the two of them, with Carlos and James having already left for camp. "Aw, why not?"

Kendall sighs. "Mom says I gotta baby-sit Katie. Things are, uh, kind of tight I guess and we can't afford a babysitter."

The brunette's brows furrow. "Oh. You have to watch her all summer?"

"Yeah." Kendall sounds seriously bummed and Hortense's heart goes out to his friend. Katie is very sweet, if not a little devious at times, but he also knows that his best friend won't be able to go out and play street hockey or spend his afternoons vegging out in front of Hortense's new xBox 360 with him. He knows how much Kendall had been looking forward to doing that stuff because he'd been looking forward to it too.

Suddenly, he grins, an idea coming too him. "Don't worry about it, Kendall." He reassures his friend. "It's important that you help out your mom."

"I know. This just sucks. I really wanted to spend the summer hanging out with you."

Hortense's grin widens, even though he know his best friend can't see it. "Me too." He tries to keep the grin out of his voice so his friend won't get suspicious. "But you're mom won't have to work everyday, so we can still hang out."

"I guess." Kendall grumbles and Hortense can hear someone yelling in the background. "I gotta go," The blonde says suddenly, "Mom needs to show me stuff before she leaves."

"Okay. And don't worry Kendall, it won't be so bad."

"Maybe."

After the boys hang up, Hortense turns back to his room, quickly gathering everything he needs before heading to the bathroom to shower.

-0-

Kendall doesn't mind babysitting Katie. She's better behaved for him than she is for anyone else that's ever tried to watch her. He'd just really been looking forward to spending the summer hanging out at Hortense's house without a babysitter. Now he _was_ the babysitter, which didn't seem like it was going to be any more fun. He's turned on _Nickelodeon_ for his sister and is debating if he really wants to sit down and watch _The Fairly OddParents_ with her when the doorbell rings.

"Hortense?" He gaps at the boy in front of him.

"Hey Kendall!" The smaller boy has a backpack that's almost too big for him slung over one shoulder.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well," Hortense steps in side, letting the backpack hit the ground with a loud thud, "I figured since you had to baby-sit Katie all summer that I would help you."

"But…wouldn't you rather play with the other kids?" The brunette is no longer the shy, quiet boy that Kendall, James, and Carlos had saved from bullies in the third grade. While he's definitely still closest to them, he's made other friends as well.

"Don't be silly." Hortense smiles happily at the blonde. "I want to spend time with you."

"Really?" Kendall can't stop the smile that slides across his face. "It's probably not going to be much fun."

Hortense shrugs. "Anything we do together is fun for me." He gestures to the bag on the floor. "I brought over some games and movies, I think Katie will like all of them. I could just leave them here if you're mom doesn't mind and we can use them over the summer."

Kendall turns towards the bag, grinning. "Did you bring _Bridge to Terabithia_?"

He nods. "Duh. And I brought _Muppet Treasure Island_."

Kendall pulls the shorter boy in for a hug. He'd honestly been hoping that his friend might want to spend the summer helping him, but hadn't wanted to ask. He hadn't wanted to guilt the other boy into giving up his free time to help him baby-sit. "You're the best!"

The brunette rolls his eyes, but he can't stop himself from smiling as he returns the hug.

-0-

Things go even more smoothly with Hortense helping. They only person five year old Katie likes as much as her big brother is the brunette so she's insanely thrilled to have them both around everyday. About half way through the summer Katie decides she wants to start baking. There had been a lot of commercials for _Easy Bake Ovens_ on TV and Kendall and Hortense can only assume that's where the sudden desire comes from. It takes some convincing, but they finally get Mama Knight to agree to letting them make simple things like brownies and cookies.

"What are we makin' today?" Katie asks, turning her best puppy dogs eyes on her brother and his best friend.

"Um," Kendall goes to the pantry, searching through what they have. He emerges a moment later with a red box. "How about double fudge brownies?"

"Yay!" Both Katie and Hortense let out a cry of excitement and Kendall laughs. It's no secret to anyone who knows him that the brunette boy is an avid chocolate fan.

They get to work. Hortense preheats the oven while Kendall gathers all the ingredients. Katie sits at the kitchen table, her legs swinging rhythmically as she waits to be handed the bowl of ingredients so she can stir. After it's all mixed the two Knights begin to fight over which one of them gets to lick the spoon. Hortense sits back and watches, mirth dancing in his eyes. It takes the other two a minute to realize that he's not joining them in their fight over the spoon and they both turn to him.

"Why aren't you trying to get some?" Kendall asks, still maintaining his death grip on the wooden spoon.

"Yeah." Katie adds, not relinquishing her grip either, "You _love_ chocolate."

Hortense shrugs, doing his best to school his face. "I don't really want to lick the spoon. You guys have fun with that."

The siblings turn to each other and shrug simultaneously before going to back to their struggle. The oven beeps, signaling that it's ready, and Hortense, seeing that the other two "bakers" aren't about to give up any time soon, pours the batter into the pan carefully before placing it in the oven and setting the timer. He glances at the two siblings to make sure they're still preoccupied with their fight.

Smirking, he takes the now empty bowl and, using a spoon, begins to eagerly sample the batter that's left on the sides and bottom. He's got half the bowl clean when Katie gives a loud screech and a final tug, successfully stealing the spoon from her brother. Both siblings turn to face Hortense, Kendall looking annoyed and Katie looking pleased, and they realize what he's doing.

"Hey!"

-0-

Everything goes well, even with the trio's weekly excursion into the world of baking. Kendall finds he actually sort of has a flair for baking sweets and Hortense is really good at drawing things on the cakes, cookies, and brownies with icing. And Katie, of course, is really good at eating them. Today, however, the little girl declines the cookies Kendall and Logan have prepared (they'll never admit it to anyone, but they kind of like baking, especially when they're doing it together). She doesn't even fight her brother for the spoon or the bowl (they'd both wised up after the first time).

"Has she been coughing like that all day?" Hortense asks as the little girl is wracked with a particularly violent cough. He'd had to help his mother with some things early that morning so he hadn't arrived at the Knight household until after lunch on this particular day.

Kendall eyes his sister nervously. "Yeah. I don't know what to do. She won't eat anything either. It's not like her."

Katie's face is pale and she looks like she's about to fall asleep at the table. Hortense walks over to the smaller girl and places his hand on her forehead. "She's warm. Hey Katie?" She looks up at him. "How do you feel?"

"Yucky." She whines. "And I'm cold."

"What feels yucky?" He asks, moving his hand from her forehead to her cheek, finding those flushed as well.

"My tummy hurts and so does my head."

Kendall is standing beside Hortense, looking and feeling utterly useless. It's obvious his sister is sick but he doesn't have any idea what to do about it. Fortunately, Hortense takes control of the situation. He turns to the blonde. "Kendall, where does your mom keep medicine?"

"In the bathroom upstairs."

Hortense nods. "Okay, take Katie to her room. I'll be right up."

Kendall does as he's told, scooping Katie up and carrying her to her bed. He helps her change into some pajamas and then helps her climb under the covers, slipping the blankets up to her chin. Hortense walks in a few minutes later with a glass of water and a bottle of children's Tylenol. He pours the correct dosage into the cap and holds it out to Katie.

"Take this, Katie. It'll make you feel better."

She sniffles a bit, sitting up just enough to turn her eyes, innocent and trusting, to Hortense. "Promise?"

He nods. "Yeah. I promise."

She takes the cap and quickly swallows the liquid, grimacing at the taste, because even though it's supposed to taste like grape, they all know it doesn't. Hortense hands her the glass of water. "This will help with the bad taste."

She takes that without hesitation, grateful gulping down some of the clear liquid. She hands the cup back to Hortense and then pouts. "I don't feel any better."

Hortense chuckles, smoothing down the young girl's hair soothingly. "It'll take a little time. It would help if you slept." She still doesn't look happy so Hortense tries again. "How about if Kendall and I stay with you until you fall asleep?"

She brightens at this suggestion. "Okay!" She turns to her brother. "Please stay, Kendall. Please!"

Kendall smiles down at his baby sister. "Of course we will. Come on," He scoots over to the far end of the bed, dragging Katie with him, "let's make room for Hortense."

Katie quickly snuggles down next to her brother as Hortense joins them. He meets Kendall's gaze over the younger girl's head and smiles as the blonde mouths "thank you" to him.

He nods, because he doesn't mind at all. His eyes slip shut, Kendall's following soon after, and before they know it, their breathing matches Katie's: slow, even, and peaceful.

-0-

When Jennifer Knight returns home from work she is shocked by the absolute silence that greets her. Shock quickly gives way to concern as a quick survey of the first floor shows that neither of her two children or Hortense (who is _always_ present when she arrives home) are there. She looks into the backyard and comes up empty handed. Upstairs, a search of Kendall's room leaves her with similar results. She's about to seriously start panicking when she peeks into Katie's room and finds all three of the missing children asleep on the young girl's bed.

Kendall and Hortense are both curled around a peacefully sleeping Katie, their legs tangled together, effectively wrapping the young girl up safely between them.

Jennifer smiles at the sight before carefully shutting the door and tiptoeing back downstairs to call Joanna and inform her that Hortense would most likely be spending the night.

-0-

"Thanks for your help yesterday."

Hortense looks over at Kendall from his seat on the couch. Katie, though she feels much better, still isn't one hundred percent over her cold, so the three children have opted for a relaxing day of movies. They're currently in the middle of _The Swan Princess_, a movie that neither of the older boys are particularly interested in, but that Katie loves. He smiles at his blonde friend. "No problem."

Kendall shakes his head. "Seriously. I had no idea what to do. You were just like mom though. You knew exactly how to take care of her. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been here."

Hortense blushes at the praise. "Actually, I really liked it." At Kendall's confused look he elaborates. "Last year when I was looking up all that stuff about treating hockey injuries, well I kind of found all that stuff really interesting and I started thinking that it might be cool to be a doctor. And then yesterday, taking care of Katie and seeing how I helped make her feel better," He's got a dreamy kind of smile on his face, one that Kendall likes a lot, "I'm sure that I want to be a doctor now."

Kendall stares at his friend in awe. He's never actually heard Hortense talk about being a doctor before, but after watching him handle Katie yesterday, he's sure that that's his friend's calling. "That's great!" He beams at the brunette. "I want to be hockey player," which Hortense already knows, "And you can be my doctor!"

Hortense chuckles. "Sounds like a plan."

And even though they don't mention it again, Kendall never doubts the validity of their silent promise and, truth be told, neither does Hortense.

* * *

So, I know that _Easy Bake Ovens _are like a hundred years old, but I thought it might be the easiest way to get five-year-old Katie interested in baking.

Well, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Leave a review and tell me what you think!


	5. the one where they visit Texas

Okay so it seems like every fic I've ever read that deals with where Logan used to come from, has him moving to Minnesota from Texas (is this in cannon somewhere and I just totally missed it?). Since I lived there for a while I decided to go with that. The area I'm writing about it the Dallas/Fort Worth/North Richland Hills area, so if any of you have been around there then you'll know sort of what I'm talking about.

That's pretty much it for this chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

"Wow…" Kendall takes in the sight of the huge and extremely busy Dallas airport. It's much bigger than the tiny airport in Minnesota that they'd left from. Beside him, Hortense slings his backpack over his shoulder and points to the left.

"Baggage claim is that way. My grandparents are probably out that way too."

Kendall takes a few steps, eyes still taking in all the activity around him, and nearly runs into a woman who is hurrying to her gate. Hortense rolls his eyes and grabs his friend's hand, gently leading the boy forward. "You're going to get run over." He informs his friend.

"Who cares?" Kendall breathes. "This place is amazing."

Hortense laughs. "You haven't even seen Texas yet. This is just the airport."

"But it's _huge_!"

"Duh," the smart boy rolls his eyes. "Everything is huge in Texas."

The boys have been invited by Hortense's grandparents to stay for the summer. Or, rather, Hortense has been invited and he'd begged his grandparents to let his best friend come with him. James and Carlos were off to Camp Wonky Donkey again and the smaller boy hadn't wanted Kendall to be stuck alone all summer. Though Kendall felt bad about all the money his friend's grandparents would be spending on the trip, he was very excited. He's never been out side of Minnesota in his entire twelve years of life, so he's looking forward to seeing a new place. They collect their bags and meet up with a kind looking older gentleman that is Hortense grandfather.

"Hey Grandpa!" Hortense runs up to the older gentleman, giving him a hug. "This is Kendall!" He gestures to the blonde.

"Hello Kendall." His friend's grandfather smiles kindly at him.

"Hi, uh…" He trails off as he realizes that he has no idea what the man's last name is. He's Mama Mitchell's father, but he'd never been told her maiden name. Hortense had always just called them Grandpa and Grandma whenever he talked about them.

"You can call me Grandpa." He laughs good naturedly when he sees the unease on Kendall's face. "Or, if you'd prefer you can call me Kurt."

"Thank, um, Kurt." He's not used to being able to address adults by their first name. It's weird, but Hortense's grandfather seems so friendly that he doubts it will be weird for long. "And thanks for letting me visit. I've never been to Texas."

"You're welcome. Any friend of Hortense's is considered family as far as his grandmother and I are concerned."

Hortense blushes at his grandfather's obvious acceptance of his best friend and smiles happily at Kendall. They grab their luggage and Hortense tugs at Kendall's arm, eagerly leading him towards the exit. "Come on! I can't wait 'til you see the house. Grandma and Grandpa have this really awesome pool!"

"Really?" Kendall's eyes brighten at the prospect. He loves swimming but the community pool in town is often way too crowded for him to enjoy himself properly.

"Yes! We can go swimming as soon as we get there!"

Hortense's grandfather laughs, turning to face the two boys as they reach his car. "You guys can swim all you like while you're down here. But first," He helps them place their luggage in the trunk before they all pile in, "How about some _WhatABurger_. I'm sure you boys must be hungry."

From the backseat, Kendall and Hortense both let out cheers. As twelve-year-old boys, they're always hungry. And even though Kendall has never heard of _WhatABurger_, Hortense seems really excited. And it's got the word burger in the name so Kendall figures he can probably find something that he likes.

-0-

"Where are all the cowboys?" Kendall asks one night at dinner.

Kurt and Melissa, Hortense's grandmother, both laugh gently. "They're aren't many cowboys around this area." Melissa says.

Kurt nods. "Fort Worth is too close to Dallas, too much like a big city for there to be a lot of cowboys around here."

Kendall's face falls, because he's really been looking forward to seeing a real live cowboy. "Oh."

Hortense notices his friend's disappointment and quickly turns to his grandparents. "What about the Stock Yards. There are cowboys there! Can we go there tomorrow?"

Both of his grandparents nod. "Of course." Melissa says, smiling at the two boys. "You boys will love it."

-0-

And Kendall does love it. Five seconds after he steps into the Stock Yards he knows he's going to love it. It's basically a street with old time Western looking buildings lining each side. And everywhere Kendall looks he sees a cowboy hat. Kendall grabs his friend's arm and drags him into the nearest store, eager to start exploring. They both leave the store sporting their own cowboy hats, Kendall's a dark black and Hortense's a pure white. Both boys walk down the street, occasionally turning to one another and using their fingers as "guns," pretending to shoot one another. Hortense stops short in front of one of the buildings. A sign out front reads "Olde Tyme Photos."

The smaller boy turns to his grandpa. "Can Kendall and I get one of these? Please?"

Kurt nods, following the boys as they cheer and run inside. It takes them several minutes to figure out what they want to pose as. They decide on a sheriff and an outlaw, using their newly acquired hats as part of their outfits. Hortense, since his hat is white, dons the sheriff's costume and holds up a fake gun, pointing it at Kendall, who is holding his own gun and an empty alcohol bottle.

They all get a good laugh out of it, particularly at the overly exaggerated faces Kendall makes.

When they finish with the photo both boys race onto the next thing and Kendall nearly dies from excitement and nerves when Kurt asks them if they'd like to ride a horse. Hortense agrees readily, having ridden horses a few times before he'd move to Minnesota. Kendall is only slightly apprehensive about the idea. He's Kendall Knight and he'll try just about anything once. Besides, riding a horse sounds like a really cool idea.

Both boys are placed on their own horse and guides leads the horses around the corral. Hortense's guide quickly allows the younger boy to take control of the horse, realizing that he knows what he's doing. He stays close by though, in case anything should happen. Kendall watches his smaller friend in amazement as the Hortense lets the horse gallop around, not moving fast per se, but still moving more quickly than Kendall's own horse.

Hortense laughs excitedly, turning his head to beam at Kendall as the horse moves swiftly. The sun is almost behind his friend, the light reflecting off his dark hair (they'd both left their hats with Kurt and Melissa) and his brown eyes are sparkling happily.

There must be something about Texas sunshine, Kendall thinks, because the boy smiling at him from the chestnut horse looks absolutely beautiful.

-0-

Kendall's favorite part of visiting Hortense's family in Texas is actually the evenings. His grandfather has a fire pit in his backyard and several of Hortense's aunts, uncles, and cousins who all live close by come over almost every night. The entire family gathers around the fire and they all talk, joke around, and toast s'mores. One of Hortense's cousins, it takes Kendall about a week to remember that this one's name is Josh, even brings his guitar along and they all sing, like they're the Texan Von Trapp family or something. And it's ridiculously fun.

It takes Kendall a few weeks to work up the nerve to sing with everyone. He's still a little bit intimidated to be meeting so much of his best friend's family, despite how much they seem to like him. For the first two or three weeks Kendall is perfectly content to sit with his mouth shut, head either in his hands or resting on Hortense's shoulder if they've had a particularly tiring day. It's easy for him to pick out his best friend's voice and he really enjoys just closing his eyes and listening.

That might be more of the reason why it takes him so long to sing rather than nerves.

One night though, Hortense nudges Kendall as his cousin starts playing the guitar. "Sing with us, Kendall." The smaller boy smiles hopefully up at his friend. "I know you know this song."

It takes the blonde a few seconds to realize that he does know the song. It's _Making Memories of Us_, one of his mother's favorite songs. "Well…" But Hortense turns his brown eyes, shinning with hope, towards him and Kendall knows he can't say no. "Sure."

Hortense beams at him and Kendall can't help but smile back. He doesn't think he's got the best voice, not like Hortense's voice, but he does really want to sing, after listening to Hortense's family sing so much he's kind of got the itch to do so as well. So when everyone begins singing, Kendall takes a deep breath and joins them.

"_I'm gonna be here for you baby_

_I'll be a man of my word_

_Speak the language in a voice that you have never heard…_"

Everyone sings together for the first half of the song, but slowly, one by one everyone else stops singing until it's just Kendall and Hortense. The two boys are so wrapped up in the song and the way their voices blend with one another that they don't even realize it.

"_And I'm gonna love you like nobody loves you_

_And I'll earn your trust making memories of us._

_I'm gonna love you like nobody loves you_

_And I'll win your trust making memories us…_"

The two boys trail off into silence as the song ends and finally realize why it's so quiet. Everyone else around the campfire is starring at them, smiling brightly with knowing looks on their faces. Kendall can feel himself blush under the intensity of the nine pairs of eyes and beside him Hortense does the same.

"Oh, you boys sound fantastic!" Ruth, one of Hortense's aunts, gushes. "I can't believe you've been keeping that voice hidden from us all summer Kendall."

Everyone nods in agreement and Kendall smiles shyly. "Sorry. I just really like listening."

"Well no more of that." Jerry, Hortense's uncle, tells him. "From now on you are officially required to partake in the sing along."

The blonde nods. "Okay."

"Can Hortense and Kendall sing another song? They sounded so pretty! I want them to sing every night." This comment comes from Sarah, Hortense's youngest cousin.

"They'd better." Melissa tells them with a friendly smile, "Or no more chocolate chip pancakes."

Both boys gasp at the threat of their favorite breakfast being taken from them. "We'll sing!" Kendall says, falling to his knees and pretending to beg.

"Yeah," Hortense nods furiously, mirroring Kendall's actions. "We'll do whatever you want."

"Just please don't take away our chocolate chip pancakes!" They beg in unison.

Everyone laughs at the boys' dramatics and they stand up, giving a mock bow before settling back into their chairs. They clink their half empty plastic cups of juice together as Josh begins the opening cords to _Jumper_. They share a quick a grin before jumping in and singing along with the rest of the family.

"_And if you do not want to see me again_

_I would understand…_"

-0-

Summer ends far to quickly for Kendall's liking and judging by the way Hortense is dragging while he packs, the smaller brunette feels the same. It's odd because he misses his mom and Katie. And he misses James and Carlos, who actually returned to Sherwood a few days ago, but he doesn't want to leave Texas behind either. Lounging around by the pool with Hortense is probably one of Kendall's favorite things to do and he wishes there was a way where he could make that happen all year round.

"Hey Hortense?"

The shorter boy looks up from where he's folding his clothes neatly (a huge contrast to Kendall's suitcase where the clothes are all thrown haphazardly into it) and placing them in his suitcase. "Yeah?"

"You know how I always say that each summer was the best summer ever?"

Hortense chuckles a bit at his friend's words. "Yeah."

"Well this time, I really mean it. This was definitely the best summer ever."

The brunette stops packing and studies his best friend for a moment. Finally he smiles, eyes lighting up as the corners of his mouth move upwards. "Yeah. It really was."

-0-

They spend the entire three-hour flight from Dallas to Minnesota looking at the pictures from the summer that Melissa had gotten developed for them the day before. There are pictures of the boys doing just about everything and even a few of Hortense and Kendall with the many different members of Hortense's family that they'd hung out with.

The blonde's favorite picture though is of the two of them from one night around the fire. They're laughing breathlessly, having just finished singing _Under the Sea_, a request from Sarah. Their arms are slung around each other's shoulders and the firelight is reflecting in their eyes. Hortense even as a smudge of chocolate on the corner of his smile from the s'mores they'd been eating just before singing.

While Hortense is distracted with handing the flight attendant their trash just before the plane lands, Kendall swipes that picture, discreetly sticking it in his backpack. When he gets home he goes immediately to his room and pulls out an old shoebox from underneath his bed.

The picture goes inside it, along with his first Spiderman comic book, his miniature MVP trophy from peewee hockey, a picture of him at six years old, holding a newborn baby Katie, and the letter his dad had written him just before he was born.

* * *

There's chapter five! I had a real problem trying to figure out what thing of Mr. Knight's that Kendall should have inside his shoebox of important memories. We know absolutely nothing about the man though, so eventually I just settled on his father writing him a note before he was born (one of those "I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you yet, but I already love you and know you're going to be a fine young man" kind of things). Hope that wasn't too cheesy.

Well, leave a review and let me know what you thought. Reviews make my day! Also, I'm new to this fandom so maybe it's just that people don't review much or that it's not very big. I don't except a million reviews per chapter or anything at all. It just seems like a lot of people don't review and as I writer I know how important feedback from the people who read our work is. I've got a big Kogan fic in the works, one that's going to be like 30 chapters long, but I'm not sure I want to post it if no one is going to read it or if I'm not going to get any kind of feedback on it. What do you guys think?


	6. the one where Kendall has to share

Here's chapter six. The last chapter that I ever have to write Hortense ever again! (at least for this story). Not much else to say about this.

Enjoy!

* * *

"You're not going to Camp Wonky Donkey?" Thirteen-year-old Kendall asks, sounding surprised.

He, James, Carlos, and Hortense are all sitting on his living room floor, sharing a large bowl of popcorn. They've still got a few days of school left before summer break and the boys had been spending as much time as possible together because, Kendall and Hortense at least, had assumed that James and Carlos would be going off to camp shortly after school let out.

"Nope." Carlos grabs a handful of popcorn and shoves it into his mouth.

"Yeah," James nods, "we're too old for Camp Wonky Donkey now."

"Oh." Kendall's not sure how he feels about this information. He's happy that his friends aren't going to camp so they'll be able to hang out, but he also really loves getting to spend the summer just him and Hortense. He's come to look forward to the about two months that he gets the smaller brunette all to himself.

More and more frequently, maybe ever since last summer even, every time Kendall catches the little genius' gaze (Hortense' mother had gotten his IQ tested early in the year and the littlest Mitchell is officially a genius) his heart rate increases. And whenever the blonde is on the receiving end of one of his friend's brilliant smiles he can feel his breath catch in his throat. Every time he hugs the smaller boy he never wants to let go.

It's so different from how things used to be, but at the same time it's not. It confuses Kendall a little bit, but it just seems like this is the natural next step in their friendship. They've always been Kendall and Hortense, now they're just slowly becoming _KendallandHortense_.

"Dude?"

Kendall blinks to find all three of his friends starring at him and he realizes that he's been spacing out thinking about Hortense. He flushes. "Sorry guys. But that's great that you and Carlos are going to be here! Now we can all hang out."

He doesn't sound as enthusiastic about it as he thinks he should. James and Carlos don't seem to notice it though. They just begin talking animatedly about all the cool stuff the four of them will be able to do this summer. Kendall catches Hortense's eye and they share a small smile. The blonde can tell that his friend feels disappointed that James and Carlos aren't going to camp too and that he feels just as bad as Kendall does about it.

"You guys!" Carlos pounces into the middle of the circle that they boys are sitting in, knocking over the popcorn bowl and scattering the little white puffs and kernels all over the floor. "This is going to be the best summer ever!"

Kendall's not sure about all that, but he does know that it is going to be a lot of fun.

-0-

"I can't wait to get on the rink! We need to get little Hortense up to par!" James ruffles the shorter boy's hair affectionately.

The four boys are sitting in the center of every chair that Carlos' family owns. Each boy had chosen two chairs and draped a blanket over them, creating four individual forts that all connect together in a circle. They're all hanging out in the center of the circle, eating candy and telling stories for the first slumber party of the summer.

"Hey!" Hortense mock glares, but knows the taller boy is just messing around. "Maybe I should have you do some math problems so we can get you up to par!" He holds up a calculator towards his friend.

The other three boys gasp at the genius' threat. "School work during the summer?" Carlos cries, jumping up. "Never!"

They all laugh as Carlos attempts to protect James from Hortense's "calculator of doom." They continue to wrestle for a few minutes before Mrs. Garcia sticks her head in the living room, couching loudly and catching their attention.

"Lights out boys. It's almost one in the morning."

"Aw, but Mama! We have to save James from math!"

Sylvia Garcia shakes her head, smiling at the boys. "I'm sure James will be just fine. Now go to sleep." She gives the boys a pointed look and they all grumble, but begin making their way towards their respective forts.

"Night guys." James calls before disappearing from sight.

"Sleep well!" Carlos chirps before crawling underneath his set of blankets.

"Night." Both Kendall and Hortense call to their friends, before going to their respective sleeping places as well.

Hortense settles down onto the pile of pillows and blankets that make up his bed for the evening. He's almost asleep when the sound of his blankets shuffling startles him into alertness. He uses his arms to push himself up, wiping off the bit of drool that had made it's way down his chin. He squints in the darkness and can just make out the shape of his best friend.

"Kendall?"

Kendall waves, at least Hortense thinks he does, and moves so that he's sitting beside him. "Hey."

"What are you doing?"

"I-um," Kendall thrusts something towards the smaller boy and it takes his brain a few seconds to realize that it's a book. "I was kind of hoping we could read a little of this before going to sleep."

"We could…except I can't see anything."

There's a soft click and then the fort is flooded with light from a flashlight that the blonde is holding. Hortense looks down at the book in his hands and realizes that it's _Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightening Thief_, a series that both boys had expressed interest in reading. The brunette can't hide the way his eyes light up as he looks at the book. He turns to face his blonde friend, grinning widely. "Okay!" He's so excited about the prospect of getting to read, of getting to read with Kendall, that he doesn't even mind that they're disobeying a direct order from a parent.

It takes them a few minutes of shuffling to find the best position to read in, so that Hortense can see the words in the light of the flashlight, but Kendall is close enough to the smaller boy to hear as he whispers the words quietly. Finally, Hortense settles himself between Kendall's long legs, leaning against the taller boy's chest. Kendall has one arm curled around the small boy's waist, the other is holding the flashlight in place on Hortense's shoulder, lighting up the page perfectly.

"_Look,_ _I didn't want to be a half-blood…_"

James and Carlos find them the next morning, Kendall with his arm still wrapped around Hortense's waist, both sound asleep. The brunette's head has fallen back onto the blonde's shoulder and his mouth his hanging open. Kendall's head is back against the chair and the flashlight that he had been holding is on the ground. The book lays face up on Hortense's lap and neither of the other two boys can stop themselves from giggling at their best friends.

James grabs his cell phone, an early birthday present from his mom, and snaps a quick picture. He quickly hides the phone as the shutter sounds causes the two sleeping boys to stir. They both crack open an eye and are greeted by their other two friends, both wearing identical Cheshire Cat grins.

"Morning sunshines!"

-0-

"Do you guys think I should change my name when I become famous?"

Kendall, Carlos, and Hortense all eye James strangely. "Uh, no." They all answer quickly.

"If your name was Hortense maybe." Carlos snickers and nudges said friend with his elbow. Hortense only rolls his eyes in response. "But James is a cool name."

The taller boy perks up. "Yeah you're right." He grins.

Ever since last year, the pretty boy had started talking about how he wants to move to California some day and become famous. At first, the other three boys had rolled their eyes, James' dream tended to change from week to week. But after two months of James still insisting he wants to be a pop star, the others have started to believe him. He'd even convinced his mother to sign him up for private singing lessons.

And everyone has to admit; James had the looks and the talent to make his dream come true.

"_So baby, keep my heart beat-b-beat-beat beating!_" The taller boy belts out; completely oblivious to the odd looks he's getting from the other people in the park on that warm summer afternoon. "_The sole reason I keep believing, that we're going to die like this you know, oh, oh, oh._"

Carlos, recognizing the song as _Heartbeat_, a song that James has recently become obsessed with, jumps over next to his friend, belting out the next part. "_Hey, hey, beautiful. The sunshine shines oh oh so bright, alright._"

He and the taller boy continue to sing the rest of the song as the four boys leave the park, heading towards the street corner where they all go their separate ways. "Come on guys!" Carlos stops singing for a moment to turn to the two silent boys, "sing with us! You've got to know the song by now, as much as James makes us listen to him sing it."

Kendall and Hortense share a look. Kendall remembers the feeling of listening to the brunette sing around the campfire. He doesn't want to share that memory, that part of Hortense, with his other best friends just yet. As if sensing what the blonde is thinking, Hortense turns to Carlos. "No thanks." They both say.

Carlos just shrugs and goes back to singing with James.

At the corner of Pine St. and Maple Dr. the boys split up, Carlos heading to the left, James to the right, and Kendall and Hortense continuing to go straight. The blonde chuckles as soon as their other two friends are out of sight. "James is really going to make it big one day." He comments.

Beside him, Hortense nods in agreement. "Yeah. I just wish he'd find a new song to sing. That one is going to be in my head all day now."

Kendall laughs but can't help but agree. There's silence for a minute before he hears the boy next to him start singing softly. "_For every grain of sand that you drew me pictures in. There was one for every time that my_-"

"_My heart dropped again_." Kendall sings, joining his friend. They both know that singing it is really the only way to get it out of their heads in a timely fashion.

"_So baby keep my heart beat, b-beat, beat, beating! The sole reason I keep believing that we're going to die like this you know, oh, oh, oh._"

"_For every grain of sand._

_That you drew me pictures in_."

"_There was one for every time that my._"

"_Heart dropped again_." They finish together and the sound of clapping causes them both to turn around.

They had reached Kendall's house without even realizing it and both their mothers and Katie are sitting on the porch, applauding the mini concert they'd just been privy too.

"You know boys," Mama Mitchell grins at them, "you might just give James a run for his pop star money."

Both boys flush at the praise. But then they catch the other's eye and grin. Neither one has any particular aspiration to be a pop star, but it might not to be too bad. If they were doing it together.

-0-

"Alright, we have three weeks to finish making Hortense the best of the best so he can start with us this year." Kendall says as he glides across the ice.

The smaller boy had made the same team his friends were on the previous year, but he is still the team's weakest player. He's small and quick, which would make him the perfect left wing…if they could just get him to make goals. They've been working hard all summer and Hortense has come a long way, but there's still room for improvement. Kendall is thrilled though, with him playing center, Carlos in the goal, and James as a defensemen, they could rule the ice once they get the shorter brunette up to speed.

"Yeah! Let's do this!" Carlos skates over to the goal, positioning himself in front of the net.

James turns to face his two friends. They usually play two-on-two, but for the past few days they've been situating Carlos back in the goal so that Hortense can practice getting the puck past an actual person. Fortunately, James is a talented enough hockey player that he can hold his own pretty well against both Kendall and Hortense.

"Don't go easy on me, James." The genius tells his taller friend.

The pretty boy flashes him a smile. "Do I ever?"

They don't waste anymore time talking. James gets control of the puck immediately and skates around the other two boys. Without a goalie on Kendall and Hortense's side, it would be kind of pointless for the taller boy to try and score, so he's job in instances like these had become to keep the puck away from the other two boys as much as possible. And to try and take it back when they did get a hold of it.

Kendall manages to snag the puck from James and begins skating towards Carlos, James hot on his heels. As he gets closer to the goal Kendall brings his stick back, preparing to shoot the puck into the net. Carlos takes notice of this and crouches slightly lower, getting ready to drop down quickly and defend the net. But instead of shooting for the net, the blonde surprises both the taller boy behind him and the Latino in the goal by sending the puck to the right, towards empty ice.

"Dude what the-"

James' exclamation is cut off as Hortense appears, seemingly out of nowhere and snatches the puck, sending it sailing smoothly towards the goal. Carlos has barely enough time to react, changing positions and dropping to his knees to stop the puck from entering. There's silence for a few moments as Carlos pushes himself up off the ice. Everyone looks between his legs and all four boys break out into a grin.

The puck is nestled safely in the net.

All for boys let out a cheer, tackling Hortense to the ground, squeezing him in their excitement.

"That was awesome!" Kendall exclaims, pride shinning in his hazel eyes.

They all untangle themselves from one another and stand up. "I definitely think you're ready for next season." James tells him with a grin.

"Yeah," Carlos smiles at both the shorter boy and the blonde, "as long as we have you and Kendall and you guys can do _that_ we'll be unstoppable!"

Hortense grins as Kendall pulls him closer, still beaming with pride. "Let's get pizza to celebrate. My treat."

His friends cheer and they race off the ice, stripping out of their hockey gear and donning their street clothes. They leave the building and head towards the small pizzeria that's down the street. Kendall throws an arm over Hortense's shoulder as they walk and enjoys the way the brunette seems to snuggle into his side. An unidentified feeling swells in Kendall's chest as he realizes that the smaller boy is never this affectionate with James or Carlos. Only with him.

It's nice to know that even though he'd had to share his best friend this summer, there are still some things meant just for them.

* * *

Okay, so the next chapter is the last chapter. That's where it officially stops being pre-slash and becomes complete and total Kogan. It's really more like an epilogue of sorts, I suppose. Eh, whatever you call it, it'll be up soon.

Be sure to leave a review. I love getting to hear what you guys think!


	7. the one where it all begins again

Last chapter guys! Thanks so much for sticking with me!

Enjoy!

* * *

The summer that Kendall and Logan (James' mother had insisted they start calling Hortense Logan when the boys were fourteen and everyone, especially Hortense, liked the name better) are both seventeen, they're playing truth or dare by the pool at the Palm Woods with James, Carlos, Lucy, and Camille.

The spinner lands on Kendall and when the blonde says "dare" Lucy smirks, looking almost devious. "Alright, Knight. I dare you…" She pauses for a minute, "to kiss Logan."

Silence falls over the group and everyone turns to stare at the blonde (who is gaping, wide-eyed at the rocker chick) and the genius (who has turned an interesting shade of pink). James and Carlos both smirk at their two friends. "Come on, Kendall." Carlos says. "You've got to do it."

"Yeah," James nods, still smirking, "Kendall Knight _never _backs down from a dare."

Kendall can't seem to form a coherent response. It's not that he doesn't want to kiss Logan, quite the contrary; he's wanted to kiss the smaller boy for about four years now. It's just that he's not sure he's ready for everyone to see just how much he'll enjoy kissing his best friend.

"Come Kendall." Camille speaks up this time, her voice challenging him. "Pucker up."

"C-come on guys!" He tries to protest weakly, but they continue hounding him.

"Oh for God's sake!" Logan cries, rolling his eyes at his friends' utter ridiculousness and surprising them all into silence.

Blush still very obviously in place, the shorter boy leans over (he'd been sitting across from his blonde friend), grabs his shirt, and yanks the taller boy towards him, pressing their lips together.

Their friends let out cheers and wolf whistles, drawing the attention of most of the pool. Everyone, literally everyone that is out enjoying the pool today, watches in silence as Kendall reaches out and pulls the shorter boy onto his lap, all without breaking the kiss. When they break apart a minute later, Logan's hands buried in Kendall's hair, the blonde looks up at the brunette shyly. "Wow…" He mutters.

Logan nods mutely in agreement, unable to tear his gaze away from his best friend's.

"I'd, uh, really like to do that again…if-if you want to…"

Logan's face lights up at his words, Kendall's favorite smile sliding over his face. "Yes." He agrees breathlessly. "We should definitely do that again."

"A-and," Kendall hates how nervous he feels and sounds, but he doesn't want to mess this up. "Um, maybe I could take you out…on a date?"

The brunette is silent for a moment, processing what exactly has just happened. But then his smile gets even bigger, if that's possible, and he's nodding so furiously that Kendall thinks he might just hurt his neck. "I'd really like that."

Everyone, literally everyone, lets out a cheer at the shorter boy's words and Katie pops up from seemingly nowhere and starts collecting money from different people, thanking them for partaking in the "Kogan Pool." And for the first time since their lips connected, the two boys realize they aren't alone.

They both flush at the realization, but Kendall is so ecstatic that he honestly doesn't care. He just pulls the other boy down for another kiss, making up for lost time.

-0-

The summer that Kendall and Logan are both twenty-one, they're saying goodbye to the Palm Woods, and fame, and BTR. A boy band isn't really much of a boy band when even the youngest member has officially turned twenty years old. It's been fun and all four of the boys are going to miss it, but none of them are sad it's ending. It's time to move on to bigger and better things and they all know it. Carlos is extremely upset to be leaving Swirly behind though.

James is staying in L.A. and starting his solo career (Katie is managing him and as already gotten him several offers). Carlos is off to the police academy, following in his father's footsteps and trying to make the streets of L.A. safer (it's not exactly a superhero, but the Latino figures it's pretty close). Kendall has actually managed to score a position on the L.A. Kings. And Logan is off to med school, a rather nice one that's closer to L.A. than any of the boys could have hoped for.

Logan is the only one of the four boys who isn't staying in L.A. He's not going far, but after having spent the past five years all together in the same house, even the hour distance between L.A. and Logan's new school feels like too much. But they're all really proud of Logan for getting accepted into such an amazing school and they all know their friendship isn't going to suffer. And Logan and Kendall both know they're relationship won't suffer either.

Which is why Logan can't even begin to figure out why Kendall is so nervous.

They're lying in Palm Woods Park, cloud watching and just enjoying each other's company. The brunette is curled up against his boyfriend, head lying on his chest and he can feel the blonde shift nervously beneath him several times. Eventually he can't take it anymore and he pushes himself off the taller boy.

"Okay, what's up?"

Kendall looks taken aback by the sudden turn of events. "W-what are you talking about?"

Logan shakes his head, grabbing Kendall's arm and pulling him into a sitting position. "Why are you so nervous?"

"I'm not nervous!" He starts to chew on his bottom lip as he says this though, a nervous habit that he'd actually picked up from Logan after nearly thirteen years of friendship.

The brunette smiles gently. "Kendall, I've known you for basically my whole life. I know when you're nervous."

Kendall chuckles lightly, but can't deny the accuracy of his boyfriend's statement. He takes a deep breath, knowing if he doesn't do it now it could be who knows how long before he gathers up the nerve again. "It's just, things are changing, you know."

Logan raises an eyebrow. "Yeah. But we've all talked about this and we all know that everything is going to be fine. Besides, when has Kendall Knight ever been afraid of change?" He wraps his arms around the blonde's neck. "You might not always be happy about it, but you're never afraid of it."

"This is different." Kendall shifts, moving away from the smaller brunette. "Bigger."

"Kendall what-"

"Just hear me out, Logie." He says, cutting off the other boy. "Y-you're my best friend. You've been my whole world since, God, since that summer when we were eight years old and I realized that I didn't want to share you with James and Carlos." Logan smiles fondly at the memory, but doesn't interrupt the blonde. "I honestly don't know what I would do without you in my life and, frankly, I never want to have to find out." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small object. Logan's breath catches in his throat when he sees it.

"Logan Mitchell, will you marry me?"

The brunette blinks back tears as he gazes at the blonde boy, who's looking horribly nervous, in front of him. "I'm surprised you even have to ask." He lets out a shaky breath, swiping at his eyes to keep himself from crying full out. "Of course I will. I love you, Kendall."

Kendall's face breaks into a radiant smile as he slips the simple silver ring onto his fiancé's hand. He leans over and kisses the other boy lightly. "I love you too. So much."

-0-

The summer that Kendall and Logan are both twenty-six, they're standing in the hospital, in the delivery ward, waiting to meet the little girl that is about to change their lives forever.

"I'm going to kill both of you!" Katie screeches, her face contorted in pain.

Kendall gently wipes away the sweat that's forming on the young woman's head. "We know, baby sister. And after this, you can do it however you want."

Logan gulps audibly from the other side of the bed, knowing that, if she really wanted too, Katie had the right connections to carry out her threat. "Thank you so much for doing this for us Katie." He tells her, smiling down at the brunette who really is like a sister to him.

Katie's face softens. "You know I'd do anything for you guys. You're going to make amazing fathers. Even if you are a couple of indecisive idiots."

The two men chuckle at her words, knowing exactly what she is referring too. Nearly ten months ago, they'd decided their little family was ready for a new addition but hadn't been able to decide on who they wanted to be the surrogate mother or which one of them would be donating the sperm that would create the child. It wasn't until Katie had walked up to them and called them both idiots that the matter had been settled. She'd informed them that _she_ was going to be their surrogate mother and, obviously, Logan would be the donor.

"Katie," Kendall had tried to reason with his sister. "You're only twenty years old. You don't need a child."

"I'm not getting a child. _You_ are. I'm just the delivery girl." She'd answered stubbornly. "Besides," Her voice and gaze both softened at her next words. "This way the little tyke can really be half Knight and half Mitchell. I want to do this big brother. For both of you."

It had taken a little more convincing for both boys, especially Kendall, but in the end Katie had won. It really did make the most sense. And here they were, about to meet the little girl that had been growing inside Katie for the past nine months. There's a lot more screaming and threats from Katie and Kendall is beginning to turn very pale, when a new voice joins the screams as an exhausted Katie slumps back in the bed.

"Congratulations," the doctor tells all three of them. "She's beautiful and healthy."

Logan is the first to hold the bundle, wrapped in a pink blanket. He stares down at the little girl in his arms, his eyes wide and his heart overflowing. The baby has a few wisps of hair, the same shade as Logan's, and her eyes are already the striking hazel of her other father. And when she smiles he can already see the beginning of dimples that will perfectly match both his and Kendall's.

"She's perfect." He chokes out, as Kendall wraps his arms around them both. "Absolutely perfect."

"Hi Erin." Kendall coos, reaching out a hand to stroke her cheek delicately. "We're so, so glad to finally meet you."

Katie smiles as she watches the family in front of her. It had always been pretty perfect, even when it was just her brother and Logan. But watching them talk to the newborn, seeing the light in their eyes and the smiles on their faces…now the little family seems complete.

-0-

The summer that Kendall and Logan are both thirty-one, they're on a tour bus, driving across the country for _Big Time Rush_'s reunion tour. They're sitting on the couch with James and Carlos, all laughing and enjoying hanging out again. Life is drastically different from when the boys were in the band, and even though it's amazing and they wouldn't trade their post-boy band lives for anything, it's nice to be able to hang out like old times.

The conversation is cut short, however, by the ringing of Kendall's cell phone.

The blonde frowns as his sister's name pops up onto the screen. "Hello?"

"Hi Kendall."

"Katie? Is everything okay?" His younger sister and mother are supposed to be watching the now five-year-old Erin while he and Logan are gone. He often gets updates from both women, but it is odd for her to be calling so late at night. Well, in reality nine o'clock isn't that late, but it is well past his daughter's bedtime.

"Everything's fine. Erin is fine." Kendall can hear the exasperation in his little sister's voice. He knows she thinks it's ridiculous, how over protective Kendall is. "She just misses you guys. I thought maybe a quick Skype session would help."

Kendall nods and motions for Logan to grab the laptop, which the brunette does, looking at his husband in concern. "Of course. Give us a second, we'll be right on."

He hangs up and turns to face the genius, who has returned with the laptop. "Erin misses us. Katie thought using Skype might help."

Logan nods, opening the laptop and loading the video chat program. "I miss her too. I think this will probably be good for all three of us."

They wait patiently for the program to load and a few seconds after it's finished they have a call from Katie. Logan accepts it and soon their daughter and sister's faces both appear on the computer screen. "Hey baby." Logan smiles gently. "What's wrong?"

Erin, who looks more and more like them everyday with her brown hair, hazel eyes, Mitchell intelligence, and Knight smile, looks sadly at them. "I miss you Daddy. When are you and Dad coming home?"

Kendall sighs and wishes he were home to wrap his daughter in a hug. "Soon, sweetie. We really miss you too." She nods, still looking sad, and Kendall fights every urge in his body to tell the bus driver to turn around and bring them back to L.A. "Are you behaving for Grandma and Aunt Katie?"

The little girl nods again, this time smiling a bit. "Yes. Aunt Katie takes me to the park everyday. It's fun. But not as fun as if you guys were here too."

Logan smiles sadly too. "We'll go to park as soon as we get back, I promise. Do you want Dad and I to sing to you?" Erin nods sleepily and Kendall and Logan both grin at how adorable she is. "Do you promise to go to sleep after?"

"Yes. I didn't mean to stay up. I just wanted to see you."

"It's okay, baby. We don't mind. We like getting to see you too. Kendall?" Logan turns to the blonde who smiles before singing.

"_Wait a minute, before you tell me anything how was you're day."_

"'_Cuz I've been missing you by my side."_

Erin smiles happily as the two men continue to sing. She sings along with the parts she knows, making both the doctor and the hockey player smile.

"_Girl we'll be thinking about you worldwide,_" they sing together, "_worldwide, worldwide_."

"_And yes, I may, meet a million pretty girls that know my name._

_But don't you worry,_"

"'_Cuz you have my heart._" They finish singing, both of them placing a hand on the screen, trying to reach out and touch the little girl they miss so dearly, not realizing that, on the other side of the country, she is doing the same thing.

"Good night, Daddy." She tells them after a moment of silence. "I love you."

"Love you too, baby." Logan says.

"Always." Kendall promises. "Sleep well, we'll be home soon."

"Night guys." Katie says as she picks up the five year old.

"Night." They echo back before the screen goes black.

Later that evening as they're curled up around each other in the bunk bed that is far too small for two grown men, they both make a silent promise to never go away for that long again.

"Next time," Logan mutter's sleepily into the crock of his husband's neck, "she's coming with us."

-0-

The summer that Kendall and Logan are both forty-two Logan walks up the steps of his home after a particularly long overnight shift. It's nearly two in the afternoon and nothing sounds better to the brunette than a nice hot shower and the king sized bed that he and Kendall share, complete with memory foam mattress.

What greets him as he opens the door, however, are the opening cords to _Old Time Rock N' Roll_ and his husband sliding out into the hallway in only a nice button up shirt, sunglasses, and a pair of socks.

A few seconds later, as the cord repeats, Erin, now sixteen-years-old, slides into view, dressed similarly to her father.

Logan shakes his head as he walks farther into the hallway. "You two are ridiculous." He tells them, smiling widely.

Kendall whips off his sunglasses and waggles his eyebrows suggestively at the brunette. "But you love us."

"Lord only knows why." Logan's tone is teasing as Kendall leans over and kisses him quickly.

"Ew, guys!" Erin covers her eyes and pretends to act horrified. "You're so gross!"

Kendall laughs. "What can I say? I missed your father. Didn't you?"

She and the older blonde share a look. "Duh!" she says, before they both tackle Logan in a hug, knocking him down.

Logan laughs, returning the gesture. And everything is perfect. The two people who mean the world to him are here, wrapped in his arms. The door is open, letting the warm summer breeze wash over them. And he can't help but think that summer has been very good to him. He looks over at Kendall who has love and pride and the kind of happiness that you only see when life is going perfectly shinning in his eyes.

No, Logan thinks, summer has been very good to _them_.

* * *

And this story is officially complete! Now I'm off to go work on my thirty-chapter story. I've already got a good portion of it written up, so expect to see it shortly.

Don't forget to review! Hearing what you guys think really makes my day!


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